The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to providing interoperability between a Common Information Model standard provided in information handling systems and management software used with those information handling systems.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Some information handling systems such as, for example, server devices, provide for their management via management standards. For example, one management standard used for managing server devices is the Web Services Management (WSMan) standard, a Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) open standard that defines a protocol for managing the server devices (as well as other devices, applications, and web services.) The WSMan standard operates to expose the managed elements in the server device that are defined by the Common Information Model (CIM) standard, which is an open standard that defines how the managed elements are represented as a common set of objects, and the relationships between those management elements/objects, and allows consistent management of the managed elements independent of their manufacturer or provider. Another management system used for managing server devices is the REDFISH® standard, another open standard from the DMTF. The REDFISH® standard exposes the management functions for the server device using a REpresentational State Transfer (REST) architecture that defines a set of constraints and properties based on the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and enables web services (RESTful web services) that provide interoperability between computer systems and the Internet. The REDFISH® standard provides several benefits over the WSMan standard, but configuring server devices that have previously operated via the WSMan standard to operate via the REDFISH® standard raises a number of issues.
For example, some server devices provided by DELL® Inc. of Round Rock, Tex., United States, and DELL EMC® of Hopkinton, Mass., United States, have previously included an integrated DELL® Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) that is configured to utilize the CIM standard to allow for management of its server device via the WSMan standard. However, it has become desirable to switch the management of such server devices to the REDFISH® standard. While the REDFISH® standard defines schemas for managing standard components in the server devices, such server devices often include proprietary components that are defined in the REDFISH® standard by Outside Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) extensions, and the iDRAC provides abstractions of the OEM data for those OEM extensions via the CIM standard that is not configured to operate with the REDFISH® standard.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a CIM interoperability system that addresses the issues discussed above.